


Vio x Shadow - Cheers to the World of Darkness (Four Swords AU)

by SDRseries



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Butterfly Effect, Dark Mirror, M/M, World of Darkness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-17
Updated: 2016-07-17
Packaged: 2018-07-24 14:06:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7511249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SDRseries/pseuds/SDRseries
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“For the first time, I feel like I have a real friend.  Someone I can trust.”<br/>Those few simple words stung Vio more than any battle wound.  He’d seen a side of Shadow he never thought he’d see nor did he think exist, and now he has to make the most the most difficult and game-changing decision of his life:<br/>Stay on the path of the hero and fight the forces of darkness…<br/>Or switch sides to stay with Shadow and conquer Hyrule?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Vio x Shadow - Cheers to the World of Darkness (Four Swords AU)

If you had to choose between fighting for the light and fighting for the darkness, which would you side with?

Now, what if I told you that the side you chose is losing?

If you knew this beforehand, would you choose the winning side, or would you stay loyal to the one you already fight for?

This is the current predicament I face.

As a hero, it’s my duty to fight for the light, no questions asked.

Except I now find myself asking these ones.

To be honest, if you told me that the darkness was hiding a deep, sad sorrow that I’d sympathize with, I would have thought you were crazy.

 _Would_ have.

You see, I walked into the Fire Temple with the full intention of discovering the enemy’s secret and then destroying them from the inside, but what I hadn’t expected was to actually grow attached to said enemy.

I know that while I’m pondering this, Hyrule is being laid to waste and my other three idiotic companions are coming up with a just-as-idiotic plan to rescue me, because that’s just the sort of stupid and reckless thing that Link would do, but the problem is…

_I don’t want to be rescued._

Not only has my original plan not been carried out yet, but I just…

_I don’t want to leave._

Actually, that’s a lie.  I don’t like this place.  It’s hot, gloomy, and full of smelly hinoxes.  The real truth is…

 _I don’t want to leave_ him _._

 

_\---_

 

Shadow had me captivated from the first moment I saw him.  I was drawn to his cool nature and mischievous attitude; the way he spoke and the look in his eyes gave me shivers.  Just everything about him was burnt into my mind like a hot brand on bare skin.  However, I had dismissed those thoughts of him as just me merely being intrigued by his character, and I put them aside for both my own and our mission’s sake.  And then when I was confronted by him alone, I told myself that he would be an enjoyable challenge to overcome, and seeing him defeated by me singlehandedly would be oh so satisfying.

Then I learnt more about him than I had wanted to.

It’s my own fault.  I allowed myself to get too close to him, and now I can’t pull myself away.

 

\---

 

Ah, sorry, how rude of me.  Allow me to introduce myself.  My name is Vio Link, one of four personalities of the Left-Handed Hero, Link.  The evil wind mage Vaati was released upon the withdrawal of the Four Sword, which brought about my existence along with Green, Blue, and Red Link.  Shortly before, Princess Zelda had been captured by Shadow Link and taken to the Tower of Winds.

My companions and I were completely stumped as to how Shadow came to be, but I’ve recently learned that an even bigger threat is the reason.  Ganon, the King of Darkness, is the one who brought Shadow into this world, but not only that, he plans to take over Hyrule.

But that wasn’t all I learned.

I guess I have to thank the fact that Shadow was slightly drunk, or else he might not have told me this at all.  I had previously thought that his only intention was to manipulate me onto his side, but I was seriously not expecting this much attention from him.  After his constant over-exaggerated praising and unnecessary physical contact, I’ve come to the conclusion that he’s interested in me more than I am in him.

So there he was, slightly intoxicated, showing me the view and telling me about Ganon, and then he goes and says that he wants Hyrule for himself.

_With me by his side._

I thought I was being smart and getting him to trust me more by coming up with a plan to overthrow Ganon, but I soon learned the difference between being “smart” and being “wise”.  Instead of earning more trust, I earned Shadow’s friendship.

 _And_ his secret.

 

\---

 

I tried my best to single out the reasons why I’m fighting for the light.  No matter what I think or what I’ve heard and seen, Shadow is still the enemy.

So why am I struggling this much, glaring at my reflection as if it were a monster, the heavy wooden mallet in my fingers sending my heart on a rapid rampage, just to easily smash the one thing that will allow Ganon to destroy everything?

I don’t know what to do.  For the first time in my life, I actually don’t know what to do.

I just can’t bring myself to do it.  I fully understand that Shadow is the enemy, but why?  Why has he convinced himself that he must bring Hyrule to its knees? 

I still can’t believe I’m asking myself this when I already know the answer.  After all, I know what he is, too.  He’s been nothing but a mere shade his whole life, forced to watch time go by without ever being able to interact with the world around him.  Always following, never leading.

And now he has the chance to.

No wonder he got so pissed when Blue mocked him.  He wants to be seen as something powerful and independent, but I’m not so sure he’s achieved that yet.  He still has to bend to Vaati and Ganon’s will, which doesn’t make me surprised why he’s so desperate to overthrow them both.

I just can’t do this.  It’s not fair.  This is Shadow’s first experience out in the real world, and he’s wasting this opportunity by destroying it.

…No.

It’s his masters who wish to destroy Hyrule.  Shadow never said anything about wiping out the precious life that surrounds the land.  His plan was very clear to me: seal away Vaati, overthrow Ganon, then conquer Hyrule for himself.

How he plans to do that however, I have no clue.  Perhaps…I can still do things right.  If both the bigger threats are out of the way, then maybe, just maybe, Hyrule will be safe.  I can use Shadow to –

 _“I’m serious, Vio.  For the first time, I feel like I have a_ real _friend.”_

My arms fall limp and the head of the mallet collides with the ground with a loud bang.  Slowly, my knees buckle underneath me and I slide to the floor in a pathetic heap, my eyes refusing to tear themselves away from the purple-clad Hylian staring back at me in the Dark Mirror.

_Why…  Why does this hurt…?_

_“Someone I can_ trust _.”_

Shadow trusts me.  What’s more, I’m his friend.  His _only_ friend.  I can’t even fathom how lonely he must be, to have gone so far as to turn to the enemy looking for companionship.  I just…

I can’t leave him like this.  Every fibre of my morals are telling me to be good to him, to take care of him, to remain by him.  After all, he’s one of us, isn’t he?  It’s not his fault that he had to spend his entire life like he did.  It became clear to me what his intentions are as soon as he revealed his secret to me. 

He wants nothing but attention.  He’s stirring up trouble so that he’ll be noticed, but I can only wonder…  Would he have turned out differently had Ganon not been the one to bring him about? 

He’s not evil.  I know he’s not.  Shadow has just been corrupted by the power of the darkness, and so he seeks to make himself just as powerful, but what he doesn’t realise is that once he has Hyrule, either there’ll be no one to give him attention or no one will _want_ to give him attention due to how much they’ll fear him.  He’ll have no companions aside from his monster minions, and I can already see that they don’t quite fit that criteria very well.

Goddesses, if I don’t stick by him, then he’ll only dig his own grave, and a deep one at that.

And yet, my mission still gets in the way.  I have to carry this out – I can’t betray the others.

…Or Shadow.

“Why…  WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO ME?” I cry out, gripping the mallet in both hands and slamming it onto the floor in front of me.  I sit the handle upright and rest my head on my hands that clench around it.  I let out several shaky breaths and I wrench my eyes shut.

I can see why he thinks of me as his friend.  He obviously enjoys talking to me, but the only thing I hate about that is…

_I enjoy talking to him too._

I not only find him really fun to talk with, but his sense of humour parallels mine, as well.  We can joke around with the same snarky attitude we share (he really wasn’t lying when he said that we are alike), and throughout my entire time trying to fake my loyalty…never once have I actually ever needed to.  It’s impossible for me to feel uncomfortable or fearful around him.

Is it plausible that I too…think of him as my friend?

“Oh, Shadow…”

 

\---

 

“Hi there, Hero Boy!  What are _you_ doing here?”

I yell in alarm at the sudden voice behind me and I leap to my feet, turning around, gripping the mallet tightly, and affirming a defensive stance.  However, as I look left and right, I can’t see anyone.  Are they invisible?

“Yoo hoo!  Down here!”

I blink and look down to find a truly bizarre sight.  Beaming up at me is a short little man in a tight, green, one-piece suit.  A small clock hangs from his neck and he sports a blue backpack carrying who-knows-what.

“Aww!  You changed!  Now we aren’t dressed the same anymore!”

 _Does he mean Green?_ I wonder.  “Look, I don’t know who you are and I’m not the same –” I try to begin, but he cuts me off and darts between my legs to get to the Dark Mirror.

“Ooh!  What an impressive mirror!  Did you perhaps come here to break it, judging by the mallet in your hands?”

If looks could kill, then this midget of a man would already be dead.  I grit my teeth at the sight of his puny hands resting on the mirror’s surface and my eyes bore holes into his skull.

How dare he touch it…  How dare he!

The midget lets out a gasp.  “ARE THERE FORCE GEMS INSIDE IT?  QUICK!  GIVE TINGLE THE MALLET!  GIMMIE!  GIMMIE!”

“Alright, that’s it!” I growl, raising the weapon above my head.  “I’ve had enough of you already!”  With all my strength, I swing the mallet down and strike this “Tingle” dead-on, and I watch as he soars across the room and out the window.  “Good riddance,” I mutter under my breath.

“WHAT’S GOING ON DOWN THERE?”

I freeze as I hear Shadow’s voice roar down the stairs.  The moment he descends into the room, followed by his small squadron of hinoxes, his eyes fall on me and I can tell immediately that he’s not happy.

“Vio, what happened?!” he yells, this time a little softer.

“I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to come and examine the mirror when I came across an intruder,” I explain, trying to keep as calm as I can.  The last thing I need is for this to get out of hand.  However, Shadow’s anger doesn’t lessen.

“An intruder?  Was it one of those two idiots?!” he accused.

I flinch.  I’d forgotten that Shadow thinks I killed Green.  “No.  It was a strange little man who wandered in here claiming that the Dark Mirror had Force Gems and then proceeded to try and break it.”

Shadow is seething with rage by now, and I can’t seem to do anything but make him worse.  “HE WHAT?!”  He turns to his hinoxes and throws his hand out at them.  “GO!  FIND THIS INTRUDER AND ELIMINATE HIM IMMEDIATELY!”

The clumsy one-eyed monsters scramble over one another as they try to get as far away from Shadow’s wrath as they can.  Within seconds, it is just me and him remaining.

I shift on my feet as I wait for his next reaction.  He turns to me and walks over, his eyes fixed dangerously on the mallet still in my hands.

“Why do you have that?” he asks, his left-over anger dripping from his tongue.

I’m thankful that I saw this question coming, so I’m able to reply coolly without trouble.  “I’m not taking any chances when Blue and Red are still alive.  They could strike at any moment, so I at least wanted to bring a means of defense with me.”

Shadow seems to relax.  “I see.  Well then, I’m glad you came down here when you did.  The Dark Mirror’s safety is our top priority.  We can’t succeed without it.”

I set the mallet aside and look my friend dead in the eye.  “There’s just something I’d like to ask about it, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course.  Ask away,” Shadow replies without hesitation.

I take a deep breath, praying to the Goddesses that I don’t say something I shouldn’t.  “What exactly happens when – _if_ the mirror breaks?”

Shadow closes his eyes and folds his arms across his chest, letting out a breath through his nose.  “I die.”

My blood runs cold, my skin pales, and my heart catches in my throat.  I find myself unable to breathe as I realise just what I was about to do no less than a few minutes ago.

 _I was about to kill him…  Oh Goddesses…  I was_ just _about to kill him…_

“Well, kind of, anyway,” he continues.  “My physical form will cease to exist and I’d just go back to the Dark World…a mere shadow once again.  Vaati’s power would diminish too, leaving him completely defenseless.

“Heh.  I could destroy us both if I wanted to.”

I can’t believe what I’m hearing.  How can he be so nonchalant about this?!  “Shadow.”  I step forward and place my hands firmly on his shoulders, making him look up at me with faint surprise.  “I promise – no, _I swear on my life_ , that nothing will ever happen to you or that mirror.”  What…  What am I doing?  “We’ll seal Vaati into an endless oblivion and Ganon will never see the darkness of night ever again.”  What am I _saying_?!  “Hyrule will be ours and ours alone.”

These words, whether they’re mine or not, are pouring out of my mouth like the waterfall that got me here in the first place.  Sure, fast, and uncaring of the path ahead.

Shadow’s eyes widen with an emotion that I find myself unable to read.  “You…  You really mean that?”

“Of course I do.”  Without thinking, I wrap my arms around him and pull him forward.  “You’re my best friend.”

Never have I been more terrified in my life.  Not because I’m risking my neck in enemy territory nor the fact that Hyrule is at war.  I’m terrified because the words that came out of my mouth weren’t lies.  I really do see him as my best friend.  I get along with him like partners in crime (aren’t we, though?), and the more I think about going back to my fellow selves, who do nothing but bicker and make me feel like a mother to disobedient children, the more I prefer wanting to hang around Shadow.  He makes me feel appreciated, and he sure as Din doesn’t underestimate me.  If he praises me any more, my head will blow up with ego.  The only one who compliments me even half as much is Red, but he’s only been sucking up to Blue more and more lately. 

Shadow’s attention, on the other hand, hasn’t ceased at all.  He’s been the first one to actually put a genuine smile on my face rather than the usual smirk I throw the others whenever I tease them.

Shadow certainly is something special.

“Vio…” Shadow begins, slowly returning my gesture.  “Thank you so much…”

I’ve decided.  After everything I’ve learnt and felt today, I just can’t back out on Shadow’s friendship now.  I’m a hero, and helping him to understand that most of what he’s doing is wrong is right of me.  He’s one of us, and he deserves a chance to live the life that he wants.  I just need to get past the corruption that Ganon has wormed into his heart, and then I can teach him the values of the life and land that surrounds him.  But that doesn’t mean that I’m about to snatch his planned future away from him. 

My original mission was to rescue Zelda and restore the kingdom, but now, Shadow has found his way to me.

Hyrule _will_ be _ours_.

**Author's Note:**

> Butterfly effect: the phenomenon whereby a minute localized change in a complex system can have large effects elsewhere.  
> The breeze from a tiny butterfly flapping its wings today can turn into a devastating hurricane a week from now.
> 
> Thanks to a simple decision change by Vio, Four Swords Adventures has taken a completely different turn. Events have been altered and the future is no longer set.  
> Will Vio and Shadow actually take over Hyrule?  
> And, more importantly, what will become of their growing friendship?


End file.
